Nepal picks education official Gyan Mani Nepal as first Integrity Idol

This article was originally published by South China Morning Post. By Bibek Bhandari Nepal has chosen its first Integrity Idol. Gyan Mani Nepal, an education officer in the eastern district of Panchthar, won the title for his commitment towards educational reforms in the region. In a country where government officials are often associated with corruption and incompetence, this contest aims to shine a spotlight on honest and industrious civil servants. Of the 303 nominations from 33 of the 75 districts, the five finalists included a health worker, two teachers, an education officer and two workers devoted to fight maternal and [...]

2015-01-12T00:00:00+00:0012th January 2015|

Panchthar DEO awarded with ‘Integrity Idol’

This article was originally published by the Kathmandu Post.   Panchthar District Education Officer Gyan Mani Nepal has been awarded with Nepal’s first ‘Integrity Idol’ on Sunday. Accountability Lab, established with the purpose of promoting accountability and transparency, awarded officer Nepal for his contribution to hold local teachers accountable to their responsibilities for improving the quality of education in the district. Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudel awarded Nepal with certificate amid a function in Kathmandu.  Poudel was picked among four other finalists selected from more than 300 civil servants in the country. Social worker Leela Bhattarai, Prem Bahadur Khadka, principal of [...]

2015-01-12T00:00:00+00:0012th January 2015|

Shaking Up Aid Donors Five Years After the Haiti Earthquake

This article was originally published by the Miami Herald. By Blair Glencorse and Anne Sophie Ranjbar Five years ago today - on January 12th, 2010- Port-au-Prince crumbled to the ground in one of the worst natural disasters of recent times. Over 200,000 were killed in the earthquake, with another 300,000 injured. Entire neighborhoods were raised. As many as 2.3 million people- the equivalent of half the population of the Miami metro area- were displaced from their homes. More than 50 percent of all government, administrative and economic infrastructure was destroyed. Haiti lay in ruins. The earthquake generated a huge outpouring [...]

2015-01-09T00:00:00+00:009th January 2015|

The Ebola Opportunity

This article was originally published by Global Policy Journal. By Blair Glencorse and Ashoka Mukpo “A few weeks ago there were plenty of cases” says Mohammed, a trader from a bustling market neighborhood of Monrovia, “but now Ebola- it has dropped”. In Liberia, the country hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak, there are now hopeful signs that the virus is being brought under some level of control. The latest World Health Organization situation report indicates that the number of new cases has stabilized. NPR wrote last month that there were just 8 Ebola cases in Liberia’s biggest treatment center. This [...]

2015-01-06T00:00:00+00:006th January 2015|

Liberia’s Daily Talk: All The News That Fits On A Blackboard

This post was originally published by NPR. By Ofeibea Quist-Arcton Editor Alfred Sirleaf set up the blackboard on Monrovia's main thoroughfare. Just off Tubman Boulevard — Monrovia's busy main thoroughfare — stands a plywood hut with a large blackboard at the front, in three panels. On them — written in clear, bold white chalk lettering — is a form of newsreel: mini-articles and editorials, as well as graphics and illustrations. The creator of Daily Talk — this Liberian journal with a difference — is Alfred Sirleaf. He's 41 and has been "writing" the news since 2000, three years before [...]

2014-12-14T00:00:00+00:0014th December 2014|

Nepal’s Integrity Idol seeks civil servants with the X factor

By: Pete Pattisson. This article was originally published by The Guardian. A reality TV contest is aiming to change the corruption and incompetence that pervade Nepal’s civil service – but it has a long way to go While millions of Britons settle down on their sofas to choose the winner of The X Factor this weekend, Nepalese will be busy voting in their own television competition. But unlike other versions of perennially popular talent contests, the winner will not be the best singer or dancer, but the most honest civil servant in the country, in a competition called Integrity Idol. [...]

2014-12-11T00:00:00+00:0011th December 2014|

What Liberia Can Teach The U.S. About Quarantines

By: Jina Moore, BuzzFeed News World Correspondent. This blog post was originally published by BuzzFeed News. They don’t really work. And there are much better, more proven ways to fight Ebola. On a Tuesday evening in late August, Thomas Tweh was part of a team pleading with the Liberian government not to lock down his community. The government was planning to quarantine West Point, an informal neighborhood where Ebola cases were on the rise, and an angry crowd had overrun a newly opened transit center for suspected patients. Tweh and the 20 others negotiating with the government didn’t dispute the need for [...]

2014-10-30T00:00:00+00:0030th October 2014|

The Best Weapon Against Ebola in West Africa Is Winning Public Trust

By: John Tozzi. This article was originally published by Bloomberg Business. The fight against Ebola is taking place on two well-known fronts: on the ground in West Africa, where governments and aid groups are racing to build treatment centers; and inside the lab, where scientists are trying to create vaccines and therapies to halt transmission. A third battleground, harder to track but no less important, focuses on efforts to win trust and change the behavior of the people most at risk of spreading the virus. It’s something many global aid groups were late to. “A huge mistake of the outbreak from [...]

2014-10-30T00:00:00+00:0030th October 2014|

Accountability Lab: Rebuilding Trust During a Healthcare Crisis

This article was originally published by Ebola Deeply. By Kate Thomas Blair Glencorse is the Founder and Executive Director of Accountability Lab, which works to empower citizens and youth groups in Liberia to build the tools for civil society. We spoke with him about how a crisis of trust and information fueled the spread of Ebola in Liberia. ED: Of all three countries affected by Ebola, Liberia has been hit hardest, with the highest caseload. Why do you think that is? Glencorse: One reason Liberia is having such a difficult time with Ebola is to do with the exclusionary nature [...]

2014-10-24T00:00:00+00:0024th October 2014|

Ebola Threatens ‘Africa Rising’ and Strains Relations Across the Continent: A Look at the Southern Africa Example

This article was originally published by the Council on Foreign Relations. By Brooks Marmon A boy stands near posters displaying a government message against Ebola at Duwala market in Monrovia August 17, 2014. (2Tango/Courtesy Reuters) This is a guest post by Brooks Marmon, Accountability Architect at the Accountability Lab.  Brooks was previously based in the Lab’s Liberia office and recently completely an extended assignment in Zimbabwe and South Africa.   West Africa may be at the center of the ongoing Ebola crisis, but the fear of the virus is pan-African. Much of the world sees Ebola as an [...]

2014-10-15T00:00:00+00:0015th October 2014|
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